It was with encouragement and relief that I watched the coverage in December of the first Covid-19 vaccines being given across the UK.
The rollout of the biggest vaccination programme ever seen will take several months. It will be a huge challenge but I was reassured in a recent meeting with Hywel Dda Health Board to see the extensive planning that has gone into all of this, especially with regard to frontline health and care workers and the elderly.
This past year has been difficult for many people. Loved ones have been lost, frontline services and the NHS subjected to massive pressures and families separated from relatives for months at a time. Hope is emerging with the Pfizer / BioNTech jab already on stream and with others pending approval but we are not out of the woods yet.
The virus can easily regain a foothold in local communities and we cannot take our eye off the ball now. Restrictions will remain in place until it is safe for them to be relaxed. We must all be cautious to keep friends, families and neighbours safe and well.
2020 was dominated by Covid-19 and the damage that it brought with it but, as the New Year begins, I hope that 2021 can be one of optimism and revival on the road to recovery.
Coupled with the ongoing uncertainty of Brexit, Covid-19 has left many livelihoods at risk. Some businesses have been forced to close with others downsizing their workforce to survive at all. Business owners and employees now face a period of rebuilding in the face of a double headed storm.
However, I have seen at first hand, the resilience of local communities over the last few months come to the fore. At the start of December to mark Small Business Saturday, I visited several small businesses in including Harbour Lights Spirits in Burry Port, Tinworks Brewery Co in Trostre, Holistic Therapies in Ann Street and Onesta Style Ethical Clothing, and spoke with them about the benefits that having a thriving small business sector can have on the area.
With help from the so far woefully equipped Tory Government in Westminster and the more carefully considered, targeted approach taken by the Welsh Government in Cardiff, I am confident for our local economy and for the futures of those people who have soldiered on and delivered throughout the pandemic.
There is also much to look out for on the world stage, with the inauguration in January of Joe Biden as the new US President, bringing an end to the unpredictable volatility of four years of Donald Trump. A new, reassuring style of leadership across the pond will have benefits for us all wherever in the world we live.
Added to that, we have seen a sea change in thinking from governments across the world in relation to Climate Change and other environmental matters that will bring exciting opportunities in the year ahead.
I think we are all glad to see the back of 2020. It was a unique year to say the least that we will never forget.
Let’s make 2021 just as memorable, but this time for good reasons, not bad ones.
